livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's first test drive meme! This is an opportunity to try out your characters in the setting before you apply, or to put together samples for characters you've never played before. There are going to be options for both new arrivals and veteran characters. Before we get started, let's lay down some details:

You can read the full premise here.
Reserves open October 5th at 12:01AM EST.
Applications open October 7th at 12:01AM EST.
You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years.
TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted and the players agree to it.
If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position.
Supervisor applications will start being processed a few days after apps open, and will be selected on a competitive basis. If you want a supervisor position, it is best to submit your application as close to the beginning of the application cycle as possible. If you don't get chosen for your desired supervisor position, you will be given time to rework your application to be a regular veteran, or to apply for a supervisor position that is not yet taken.
Lost Carnival could use some additional moderation assistance! If you are interested, please let us know here.

NEW RECRUITS↴

You gotta start somewhere, right? These prompts are for characters who are arriving in the carnival for the first time, and who are destined to sign a contract. How they go about that is up to you, but in the meantime they can enjoy the sights and sounds of something truly out of this world. Visitors to the carnival comes from many different worlds today, as the ringmaster casts out her recruitment lures. Will you become her most recent hire?

► ADMISSION FEES: After crossing into the carnival's realm and passing through the trees, most visitors will find themselves at the front gate - though not all choose to enter that way. If they enter legitimately, however, they will have to pass by a clerk who will trade admission and tickets for various attractions and rides in exchange for "anything of value." What is of value may seem highly subjective, and so some may struggle to produce payment at first, though in actuality the carnival will take anything from mundane currency to items of purely sentimental value.

► MIRROR MAZE: The mirror maze (pictured above) is a big attraction in the carnival, and stretches much further on the inside than it looks like it will on the outside. It's hard to get through, and what's more, after you've been in there for a while your reflections will start gaining a mind of their own - mostly in order to taunt and distract you with personal information. They don't know everything you know, but they know more than they should, and their mind games can be pretty hit or miss.

► GAMER'S CIRCLE: Almost all of the game booths are organized in a large ring around the Cookhouse, called Gamer's Circle. Your can play just about any carnival game you can imagine here, for a variety of prizes sometimes traditional, exotic, or outright magical. Dart tossing? Got it. That game with the water guns? Got it. Most of these booths are currently manned by humanoid spirits who look like they are made of smoke. If they can trick you into earning debt, they will.

► TRYING TO LEAF: No matter where you came from, you seemingly emerged from a forest. Obviously, to get back home you should be able to go back in the same direction, right? It turns out you can't. Worse, trying too hard to get through the wood will result in you getting lost, or turned back to the carnival. The trees here are not normal, and are varying levels of alien, including things like trees with glowing fruit or orange flowers that constantly burn like candles.

► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE (NEW): Sometimes, even magical ferris wheels get stuck. The carnival's particular wheel is enchanted to create a particular out of this world experience - as you pass along the top, you feel as if they are so close to the sky that you can interact with the stars like baubles hanging above your head. Of course, the novelty probably wears off when the wheel is broken and you've been stuck enjoying the light show with some stranger for the last half hour. How are you going to pass the time?

► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to make a starter with your character experiencing their first theoretical change? Go for it!

VETERAN WORKERS↴

These prompts are tailored to the carnival's existing employees, the veterans. Odds are they've been here from somewhere between a few months and three years already, and know their way around the block. For them, this is just business as usual - and depending on their attitude towards their job, they may or may not contribute to a few people accidentally getting themselves a contract. Whatever you do, though, don't warn visitors away from the carnival - the ringmaster hates losing business like that.

► DO YOUR WORK: This one's pretty simple - just have your character doing whatever you'd like to have their job be! There is a big list of ideas over here, and you could use this to try things out with a character you intend to be a new arrival, as well.

► WILL O' WISPS: The ringmaster's will o' wisps have gotten free, and she's asked that everyone keep and eye out and help her reclaim them regardless of their official jobs. Wisps are small creatures that burn both hot and cold and comes in a few different variations of the same basic theme. Handling them physically (or psionically, or magically, for that matter) is difficult due to their near intangible nature. Touching and being around them can result in confusion and a sensation similar to being comfortably drunk.

► BREAK TIME: Whatever you were doing, it's break time! It's time for you to relax however you see fit. Do you enjoy some of the carnival attractions yourself, or is that old by now? Do you hang out in the Cookhouse to get a snack? Do you take a nap? Yolo, baby!

► RIDDLE GAME: For a bit of fun, the ringmaster has left a variety of locked chests around the worker areas of the carnival, each with instructions and a riddle written on their lids. The chest will accept three guesses from each worker before refusing to respond to them any further. If you guess the right answer, the chest will open and you will be rewarded with some manner of fun magical knick knack. If you've run out of guesses, maybe you can conspire with someone else and promise to split the prize?

► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to do a performance? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals!

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[Oh, Tanyuu. Wrong place, wrong time.

Or maybe... right place, right time??]

Oh, hi, Tanyuu! I needed to talk to you.

[Like she didn't just shoot you with a disembodied eyeball.

But she's already skipping down the side of the metal cage, actually jumping straight down the last third and landing on her feet to race up to the older(?) woman's side.]

You're not busy, right?

I will but please, speak correctly.
I am not an 'it' but a 'she'.

[Zecora has come across this misstatement before, so her correction is polite and without irritation.]

I got it!

[Amethyst charges over, yanks out her whip, and cracks it at the wisp -- she doesn't hit it, but she isn't aiming to, she just wants to force it to float back towards Tanyuu...

Unfortunately using a three-tailed whip in a space with a lot of trailers results in some flowerpots getting knocked off the top of the nearest one. I hope Tanyuu wanted soil and plant debris all over her scales]

Come sit and tell me your trouble.
I'll mix up a brew on the double.

[Never mind that Zecora has only gotten stranger and more ominous in form over time -- her voice and her personality are still quite warm. She gestures to a chair near the cauldrons as she brushes back the hood of her cloak.]

Gilgamesh? The first hero in history?

[Now, she doesn't have good recollection of Gilgamesh's epic, nor his history, due to the fact that it was beyond her time and it's way over on the other side of the continent. However, thanks to the Silk Roads, she's heard enough. So Gilgamesh really was a demi-god.

He may have acted too soon, but Vietnam, having seen that he's trying...what is this, it's almost like those animes she watched with Taiwan while they were at Japan's house, tsundere? Surely not. But it's familiar to some of her own reactions.

So she bows politely.] It is nice to meet you, Gilgamesh, the first King. And apparently someone who is in charge here. Don't worry, if I say I will work hard, I will! My name is Vietnam, it seems we both come from Earth.

[ ...by the gods, how long has it been since anyone called him "young man"? It tickles his sense of humor, if in a morbid sense.

He still appears thoughtful, however, and considers her with a measured, even stare. ]

I find myself curious - what do people normally offer as an admission fee to this "carnival".

[ He doesn't have money or anything of particular value on his person, but given how he got here in the first place, he expects other things might be accepted. ]

Edited 2016-10-01 01:04 (UTC)

[Papyrus, likewise, is exploring the edge of the treeline out of sheer curiosity at the trees. The skeleton presses a gloved hand against a leaf, marveling as the leaf bends gently away.]

These are the softest, fattest needles I've ever seen!

[What do you mean trees besides pine trees exist? Not in Snowdin, they don't.]

[Then there's this asshole. Valamia should consider exercising her patience in this matter. A flick of her tail and the slight tilt of her, horns more pointed towards his direction, aren't much of a friendly indicator.]

I see this place attracts real charmers. [Sarcasm thy name is Vala.]

Don't you have a child to be frighten now instead? Maybe another whelp to play with.

Huh.

[Amethyst scratches her cheek, frowning.]

What kind of dying are we talkin' here... Like you have to be a ghost to get in because everyone's ghosts, or something?

Huh?

_{[His voice has her turning around to face him, a fist rubbing at her eyes quickly to wipe whatever tears that may have been building away.]}

...I'm from Kalos.

[Her touch startles him, and he jumps slightly, shoulders tensing, any relaxed curves of tail shrinking into a S shape. He takes up a polite smile before turning to face the person who addressed him.]

I'm fine, thank you. I just-

[He stops dead mid-sentence and gawps at her awkwardly. His eyes travel down the length of her tail, then back up to her face. Once, and then a second time out of disbelief. After a moment he remembers his manners like a punch to the (human) gut, and shakes his head. He pointedly looks away from her and one arm crosses across his chest while his other hand goes to his face in embarrassment.]

I'm so sorry I didn't mean to stare. I've never met someone, uh, like me before.

[Then there's this asshole, who it makes it a point to pointlessly circle around and around, still offering nothing more than the vaguest idea of where he might be. His laughter proves shrill and loud and echoing in the chamber, bouncing off the mirrors like a banshee's call.]

Why frighten them when I could frighten you? Although I am certain you'd claim to the contrary.

[Finally, the taunting face appears in one of the mirrors. Half-man, half-dragon, all obnoxious.]

You are among the more interesting specimens I've seen. I suspect you hail from a world very far from here, hm?

[ This is not outside the realm of possibility.

He takes, of course, this opportunity to aim. ]

Have you tried any of the others?

[ He isn't big on "games" really, but he has played two others.

He fires again and hits his target. Victory again! ]

[It stings a little.

Not because she's being rude—she's the farthest possible thing from it—but because she brings up a title he has largely chosen to forget, a sudden crack of nostalgia he'd prefer to avoid. Where once he'd proudly announce himself as King of Heroes, here it made no difference. Here, he was no longer a Servant, but something much, much more...

At least she gives up that name willingly. And he's also willing to acknowledge it.]

I know of you. I know of your country.

[Actually, it was more like...]

You say you are that country?

[Excellent, it gonna happen.

And waiting...waiting--] Congratulations! Which prize would you be able to claim now, I wonder...

I haven't tried the others yet, I just started looking around before coming to this booth. What of yourself?

A moment of silence follows while both Greg and the clerk stare at her offered payment.

Greg blinks up at the clerk. "Will it?" This is what happens when your currency system is poorly defined.

The clerk's patience is wearing thin. What kind of operation do you think this is, bud? Greg starts to answer, but the clerk ignores him. I'm talking valuables, hon. Whatcha got that's WORTH anything?

[Mari's entire radar for danger is skewed. But she's got a better grip on people... and this guy's ego is nuts. Also, he's mixing metaphor with literal declarative and it's unnecessarily confusing.]

Wait, did you just offer to trade places??

[Or is he saying he's going to beat her into the ground?? Because--]

--oh, whatever. Just hang on! Picky...

[Without turning her back on him, she starts to clamber down, showing off just how her extra limbs got her up there in the first place. But halfway there, she decides she's too impatient for that and she just drops off, hitting the ground like a stone.

A stone that grew four arms and a pair of legs to catch herself with.]

[Well, all things considered...she looks at him with a discerning eyes.]

What they can afford. Of course, that's not necessarily money, but I take it you figured that out.

[He's quite uncomfortable now, is what she's noticed, and she wonders what she could've said to make it happen. Of which she would be apologetic about it, since after all he did for her while they played a game, it would pretty much she left him in low spirits.

He's not saying anything about it though. Rather, he just speaks of her name and her kind.]

It is more accurate to say I am a spirit that represents that country, who walks with it in history. [Hang on, as Gilgamesh, he wouldn't have heard of her. She wasn't around then...] How did you find out about me? I mean, my country, it didn't really come to being until...a couple of thousand years after, really.

[...NO SHE STILL FEELS BAD.] Oh, look, let's go get a drink to! I hear the, how do they say...m-milkshakes brings the boys to the yard.

Snrk... hehehe....

[A bit of laughter for what seems to be high praise for nothing. In that case, it would be absolutely terrible if he decided to let the tiny creature free wouldn't it? At least the boy doesn't do such a thing yet, as simple it would be for him to do so as it was to capture it.]

Nice to know you're so happy because I made your job look so easy then.

[Because seriously, all that flailing around before was dumb and hilarious.]

So what exactly are you and what am I holding here?

[ Such a mistake for the King of Heroes to draw such conclusions.

Ozymandias sees that the other will not be backing down. No matter, a minor irritation and several wasted minutes. Ramesses does not back off despite the more aggressive stance that the other has taken. He merely observes, his eyes flickering momentarily— of what exactly, isn't known, before bringing one hand to rest on his hip.

He is not inclined to be wagering anything he owns, really—not because he fears losing it but because it is inconvenient to offer and then take back. The rewards sound interesting and with potential but he does not trust any of the carnival nor its employees. Their magic is obvious to him and it reeks of mischief and deceit, albeit not necessary all of ill will.

Nevertheless, it is untrustworthy. ]

Hou? For such a claim to be made... [ this'll be indeed rich, at least, one way or another, he supposes.

Very well. Conjure a game. I will offer an appropriate wager should it be of such merit as you say.

[ there's no need for him to be waving possessions about in offers for games he knows nothing of concerning its content. To do such is to commit to the game before even knowing of it's true nature.

Ozymandias will make the choice when he is fine good and ready.

His own stance has become a warning. It acknowledges the other's existence, and there is aggression to be had if one is not careful, but there is no aggressive suggestion of pushing forward without first a reason. More or less, he's still giving Gilgamesh a chance to avoid a mistake because he is a tolerant and generous Pharoah that likes to show mercy at times when it is most needed. Such as now. The window only remains open for so long, however.

He does not take kindly even to the thought someone may be dishonest with him in their words or actions. ]

[Those are a lot of arms. Those are one too many arms. Two too many arms. Gilgamesh wasn't easily disturbed by far, given what he's seen and how long he's been the carnival, but it still makes him cringe. Mostly because it's so ugly and clashes with... well, everything. Everything she is or will ever be clashes and that's enough motivation to put her down.

However, he's not a fan of getting chided by the ringmaster which a squabble would all but guarantee, so he'll give her an out.]

Apologize.

[That's all he says, all the opportunity he grants her. If she doesn't accept it and grovel accordingly, there will be Trouble.]

Oh, nothing like that from what I've heard. We'll be alive, and the creatures which populate the world are certainly corporeal. Simply undead.

[And hungry. She at least looks bemused at the prospect.]

[Girl, you ain't foolin' anyone here, you are the very antithesis of cool. Gilgamesh interrupts, quite rudely:]

I only drink the finest wine.

[He's trying to get out of this... he's just not doing a very good job of it.]

[gamer's circle] (where else did you expect to find him, honestly!)

[It's a nice distraction, really. The allure of the lights, the carnival music, the sounds of people bustling about around him. It let him ignore the empty feeling as he navigated the Circle, one prize already completely dwarfing him. Yuugi hefted the large stuffed lion under his arm again, and he would have been leaving already had something else not caught his eye. There's a game off to the side - a booth with water guns - and he pauses before turning towards it. Luck and chance games weren't really his thing but...

One more couldn't hurt, right?

Setting the lion down, he held up a hand, waving for attention from the carnival worker.]

Excuse me! One over here, please!

[It's a bit hard, but eventually he gets the man's attention (it really sucks being just under 5'5"), and looks around before turning to the person next to him.]

Ah, sorry to bother you but do you think you could...

[Yuugi gives a helpless gesture to his height, flushing red on his cheeks.]

Help me out?

[wild card]

[hit me!]

Edited 2016-10-01 01:25 (UTC)

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Page 10 of 98

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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will o' wisps

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trying to leaf

I...I'm sorry...

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Re: Break Time

as am I, friend

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Excuse you she's a GENIUS

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No, but close enough

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I'VE SEEN THE REBUILDS YOU CAN'T RUSE ME

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Yuugi Mutou | YGO:DM (post canon) | newb